


Rain Check

by Fyre



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-27
Updated: 2014-04-27
Packaged: 2018-01-21 01:15:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1532198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fyre/pseuds/Fyre
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve and Peggy finally got that rain check.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rain Check

The woman in room sixteen didn’t get many visitors.

Anna kept the log at the nurses’ station, and in the last three weeks, only her niece had dropped by on the weekends.

Her kids lived out of town, one of them on the West coast and the other divided her time between England and New York. The only reason their mom was in this home was a provision put in place by Howard Stark when he was one of the richest men in the country.

No one really knew what the big deal was with the woman, and she wasn’t one to tell tales.

She liked to be called Margaret, and smiled at her nurses like they were her kids.

Sometimes, maybe she thought that was true.

Her memory lapses were getting worse every day, and sometimes, she would try and get up in the night, insisting that they had to reach the base, because Steve would need them. No one knew who Steve was. He’d never visited in all the time Anna had worked in the home.

It came as a surprise when he showed up.

She was taking over from the afternoon shift, and Nicky glanced along the corridors before flipping open the visitor log and pointed to the name written in the book: Steve Rogers.

Anna stared at him, wide-eyed. “No way.”

Everyone had heard of Captain America being found in the ice. Then he showed up again, fighting aliens in New York City. His secret identity wasn’t so secret when they had a whole exhibit on who he was at the Smithsonian. 

“Way,” Nicky said, grinning. 

“That’s her Steve?”

“Looks that way,” he agreed, pulling his coat on. “He’s been up there for like an hour now.”

Anna whistled in appreciation. “Way to go, Margaret,” she said. 

Nicky nudged her. “You’re thinking of going for a look, aren’t you?”

She gave him her best virtuous look. “I’m going to do my job,” she said. “Now get lost. You don’t get overtime for chatting.”

Nicky pulled a face at her. “No peeking,” he warned, before heading off towards the door.

Anna lasted all of ten minutes.

The main doors were closed anyway, and it was already late. No one would be coming or going, and if anyone buzzed, she had her radio.

As quietly as she could, she made her way along the hall to room sixteen. The door was cracked open a little, the light cutting a stripe across the polished floor of the hall. She could hear music playing as well. Margaret had a record player in her room, and whatever it was, the music was something old and slow, like from a black and white movie.

She slowed her pace, squinting through the open door.

Margaret’s bed was empty.

Anna’s heart felt like it had stopped, and her hand was moving for the radio to call it in, when someone spoke in the room.

“Slow enough for you, Captain?”

Margaret.

She sounded like she was smiling.

A man chuckled. It was a warm, genuine sound. “At least we don’t have to worry about me standing on your toes, huh?”

They moved into Anna’s line of sight, and Anna pressed her hand to her lips. Margaret could barely stand up anymore, let alone walk, but that didn’t matter when her visitor was meant to be one of the strongest men alive.

Steve Rogers had Margaret cradled in his arms, so gently for such a big man, and she had her arms around his neck. He was moving across the floor in waltzing circles with her. It wasn’t in time with the music, but Margaret didn’t look like she cared about that. The smile on her face was the brightest Anna had ever seen it.

A turn brought them closer to the door, and Anna drew back, but not quickly enough.

Captain America’s eyes met hers, cool, calm blue.

He might look like he was in his late twenties, but his eyes weren’t.

Anna flushed, pulling the door shut, so no one else would get in their way, and hurried back to her desk. She was still sitting there half an hour later, trying to sort through filing when she realised she wasn’t alone anymore.

She looked up nervously.

Steve Rogers was standing on the other side of the desk, his hands in his pockets of his jacket.

“I-I’m sorry,” she stammered. “I didn’t mean to…” His eyebrows rose and she felt the blush rising again. “Okay, I kind of did mean to.” She looked down at her files self-consciously, then back up at him. “It’s just you’re kind of a legend, and we used to hear stories about you. I just…”

“Wanted to see if they were true?” He smiled, just a little, but it reached his eyes. “Yeah, I’ve been getting that a lot.” He nodded to the visitors log. “Do I need to sign out as well?”

“Oh!” Anna nodded, grabbing the book and sliding it across the desk to him. “Sorry. I’m just a little distracted.”

He laughed quietly, briefly. “Yeah, I get that a lot too,” he murmured, marking the time down beside his name. 

Anna was quiet for a moment, then cautiously asked, “How did you find her? I mean, her memory…”

His face was placid, but she could see the way his brow creased, just for a second, and he didn’t look at her. “Sometimes, it was like the last seventy years hadn’t happened for her,” he said quietly, laying down the pen. The smile that crossed his lips was both happy and desperately sad at the same time. “But we got our rain check.”

“Rain check?”

He looked at her, as if he’d forgotten she was there. It was like he pulled on his uniform, straightening up, and inclined his head politely. “She’s sleeping now,” he said. “I might come back another day, if it’s not a problem.”

“No,” Anna said at once. “No, it would be fine.” She hesitated, then added, “She talked about you a lot. About missions and bases and things.”

He looked back in the direction of room sixteen. “Yeah,” he said quietly. He withdrew his keys from his pocket, turning them over between his fingers. “Maybe it’s not such a good idea. I mean, I look like I did, and she’s…” He shook his head. “It might make things more upsetting for her. More confusing. Maybe it’s better to leave her with the memories she had.”

Anna didn’t know what to say. 

When he looked up from his keys, his smile was the same quiet, calm one, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “If she asks for me, maybe I’ll stop by.” He nodded to her politely. “If you need me, contact SHIELD.” 

Anna’s mouth went dry. “We’re not SHIELD.”

“Sure you’re not,” Rogers said. “I recognise Howard Stark’s fingerprints all over this place.” He turned and walked away, but paused by the door. He didn’t turn or look around. “Thank you,” he said, “for taking care of her. Keeping her safe.”

“It’s our duty, Captain.”

That made him square his shoulders and he turned to give her a brief salute, before walking out the door. 

Anna watched him go.

Maybe he would be back.

Maybe Margaret would ask for him.

Or maybe he was right, and the past was best left behind.


End file.
